Cable installation



June 16, 1925. 1,541,937

Isl-1ER ET Ai.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ON w/T/vfs ses 150, 712@ Patented June 16, 1925.

UNITED. STATE-s PATENTn OFFICE.

HINRYW. FISHER AND RALPH W. ATKINSON, F PERTH 4AIMIBOY, NEW JERSEY, AB- SIGNOBS TQ STANDARD UNDERGROUND CABLE COMPANY, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENN- SYLVANIA, A1C0RP0RATI0N 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

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Original application led July 8, 1920, Serial No. 398,574. Divided and this application led December 84, 1924. Serial No. 751,906.

To all whom it may cmwem:

Be it known that we, HENRY W. FISHER and RALPH W.' ATKINSON, residin at Perth Amboy, in the county of Midd esex and l, State of New Jersey, both citizens of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Cable Installations, of which improvements the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to im vements in the installation vof electric ca les and consistsy in protective apparatus, whereby a length of cable containin within and as part of its insulation, Hui under pressure, l may, in case'the pressure be onany account relieved, be disconnected from the circuit.

in which it is found, and by such disconnection be saved from injury. This application is a division from Ian application for W Letters Patent filed by us Ju y 3rd, 41920, Serial No. 393,574, patented Jan. 27,. 1925, No. 1,524,124.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. I is a l5 view in cross-section, showing somewhatv diagrammatically a three-conductor cable of familiar general structure, and Fig. II is a diagrammatic view of a cable installation, in which our present invention is found.

Our inventlon is applicable, to protect from injury, either Isingle-conductor or multiple-conductor cables. For purposes of illustration we have Ain Fig. I shown a multiple-conductor cable; Othe applicability l5 to single-conductor cables also w1ll, in the sequel be apparenti L l U n ivi the individual conductors are lndicate at 1. These arelhere shown, as

though they were solid conductors, andy such they may be: ordinarily,l however, they will be stranded: each conductor will be composed of a bundle of relatively fine wires. About each conductor hes a wrapped-on 4envelope 2 of insulation.V 3 is -the central filler, and 4 are the laterals. These ordinarily are formedl of jute. The

`and immediately surrounded b "cable, typicall illustrated in whole is wrapped about with the belt insulation 5. 6 is the lead sheath. Such is the general structure of the solid parts of an ordinary cable.v There are varlous modifications known to the art, and our invention contemplates the range of such variation. As we have said, the cable structure here shown and described is presented as a type merely. All that is requisite for the practice of our invention is a conductor suitably positioned within an hermetically ti ht caslng or covering-ordinarily a lead s cathand insulated by'a body of dielectric w ich in part or 4in whole consists of a fluid substance. This fluid substance may be liquid. Ordinarily, it will be a viscid liquid, known to the art as insulating compound; it may be gaseous, and4 in our application mentioned above, fromwhich this application is a division, we contemplate a cable in which the conductor is wra ped immediately in paper insulation, l whic paper insulation may either be im regnated with insulating compound, and i so, it necessarily contains small and ineradicable bubbles of air and atmospheric gaseous impurities, or it may be dry and filled with air or other gas) alone. In either case, we contemplate maintenance of the cable in service with the fluid component of its insulation under constantly applied super-atmos heric pressure. It will'be understood then t at the practice of our invention requires the resence of a ig. I, whose insulation inc udes a Huid, solid or. aseous, or solid and gaseous, maintainednn er'con- 'stant super-atmospheric pressure.

Ordinarily `pressure will be maintained Y* upon the seous component of the cable `insulation y providing an air dpump and an accumulator for compresse air t ether with means for cleamn and drying t e air). lCommunication w11 be maintained between the accumulator and the interior of the cable. Suitable check valves of communicationat suitable intervals.

If the insulation consist of or be filled with l. liquid, pressure may be maintained upon it,

to compress occluded bubbles, in such manner as we have indicated for an air-filled cable, or the requisite pressure may be maintained by bringing a reservoir of liquid into communication with the liquid insulation under a sufficient hydrostatic head.

ur present invention consists in the provision of cut-out apparatus, useful in the installation of a cable characterized as above described; the cut-out apparatus operating to disconnect the cable from its source of electric current, and operated by the fall in pressure, in case a. fault develops, as for instance the perforation, by any-,cause whatever, of the cable sheath. The cut-out apparatus may be made to operate, either by a reduction of pressure below a critical point, or by a falling of pressure at more than a critical speed.

Such pressure-operated devices will, of course, be distributed at suitable intervals throughout the length of the cable. Any suitable means may be employed for communicating the eflect ofoperation from the remote pressure-operated device to the protective apparatus isel; for example, a wire may be included within the body of the current wi-ll flow cable (it might be external) through which, on the movement of the relay device, an electrical circuit will be closed (or opened) and, a battery or equivalent source of electric energy being included in the circuit,

(or cease to flow) to operate the protective device, either directly or through a relay.

Referring new tol Fig. II of the drawings, A-B indicates a cable, having the characteristics already noted. c and d are cut-outs, arranged adjacent the `opposite ends of the length of cable A-B. e-f is a cut-out operating circuit, extending throughout the length of cable A-B, and including a suitable source g of electric energy. 7L and i are electro-magnets operated by current flowing in circuit e-f and effecting the closing and opening of the cut-outs c and al, according as they are energized or deenergized. k indicates a succession of switches, ar-

ranged in circuit e-f at suitable intervals and@ rated each by a fluid-pressure motor ese motors are subjected to the pressure of the interior of the cable A-B at proper points throughout the length thereof.

s shown, current flowing in circuit e-f energizes magnets h and and maintains the cut-outs c and d in closed position. Failure of pressure (consequent on leakage, let us say) at any point will result in the operation of an adjacent'motor m; the corresponding switch c will open; the circuit e-f-will be broken; the electro-magnets h, i will be deenergized; cut-outs c and d will be opened; `and the cable A-B will thus be instantaneously relieved of its load.

In the caseof a long section of cable, many thousand feet in length, should the sheath suffer injury at one point, in consequence of which pressure escapes very rapidly, the

transmission of the impulse of pressure reduction may proceed with relative slowness. It is desirable, therefore, that the switches kwith their motor m be multiplied. and introduced at frequent intervals, perhaps adjacent every joint, throughout the length of the installed cable.

Throughout such. a length of cable as is contemplated in the foregoing paragraph the conductor or conductors will of course be continuous, and there will be no need so far as the present invention is concerned) to provide cut-out switches at any intermediate point in its length, but onlyat its ends. Such cut-out switches will be operated by the protective apparatus referred to. The insulation, however, which surrounds the continuous conductor may and conceivably will'advantageously be divided into sections, each section being pneumatically separate. each separately put under pressure` and each provided with its own Dressure-operated device, and every one of these devices being effective to operate the protective apparatus.

We claim as our invention:

1. A high-tension electric transmission installation including a length of cable within which fluid bodies are maintained runder pressure and means in communication with said cable length operated bv reduction of pressure forvdisconnecting said cable length from associated parts of the installation. substantially as described.

2. A high-tension electric transmissionv installation including a source of electric energy. a length of cable the insulation of which is filled with fluid under pressure, protective apparatus operating to disconnect the length of cable from the source of energy, a plurality of devices arranged successively along the length of cable and connected therewith and operated on diminution of pressure within the cable insulation` and operative connection from each such device to the protective apparatus, substantially as described.

3. A high-tension electric transmission installation including a source of electric energy, a length of cable the insulation of which .is filled with air under pressure. protective apparatus operating to disconnect n, the length of cable from the sour of ention of pressure within the cable insulation,-

and operative connection from each such device to the protective apparatus, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

HENRY W. FISHER. RALPH W. ATKINSON.

Witnesses:

W1`LLARD RANKIN,

J osnPmNn MoIN'rm. 

